I can’t believe it! Sometimes the stars do align. I mean, just two days ago I read a Reuters news piece indicating that there are plenty of folks – public and private sector alike – that believe we will some day in the not-too-distant future be snapping up asteroids and harvesting their riches (from precious minerals to water). And yesterday the audiobook version of popular Sci Fi author David Gerrold’s double paperback Digging in Gehenna/Riding Janis was released at Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

What’s the connection? Well, the second story in this Sci Fi double-header written by Mr. Gerrold and published by Digital Fabulists is all about a family of asteroid miners and comet tossers. You should check it out!

If you don’t know David Gerrold by name, you probably know his work. His novelette Martian Child won Hugo and Nebula awards and was made into a movie of the same name starring John Cusak. He has also authored two popular series of books — The War Against Chtorr and Star Wolf. In addition, Mr. Gerrold has worked extensively in television, penning the iconic The Trouble With Tribbles episode from the original Star Trek series. Aside from continued involvement in the world of Star Trek, Gerrold has also written scripts for a number of other series, including Babylon 5, Land of the Lost, Sliders, and Twilight Zone.

Here is the publisher’s synopsis of this entertaining two-fer:

A Digital Fabulists double paperback by renowned science fiction author David Gerrold! Two electrifying stories in one book: “DIGGING IN GEHENNA” Daddy was arguing with Dr. Blom again, so Mom told me to stay away from the dig for awhile, at least until tempers cooled off. That was the only thing likely to cool off anytime soon. Spring was rising, and so were the daytime temperatures. We would be heading back south to the more comfortable polar zones as soon as the last trucks were loaded and the skywhale arrived tomorrow morning. Twenty-four months would pass before the sand would be cool enough to stand on again, but nobody knew if we would be coming back. “RIDING JANIS” Out in the asteroid belt, the mountains fly. They tumble and roll silently. Distant sparkles break the darkness. Someday we‘ll get out there, we‘ll catch the mountains, we‘ll break them into kibble to get at the good parts. We‘ll find out if the centers are nougat or truffle. And some of us—some of us will even become comet-tossers, throwing the mountains around like gods.

Here I am narrating yet another story for young readers. This one, however, is for grades 5-8. It’s The Roar by Emma Clayton.

Here is how the author herself summarizes the story –In an overpopulated world where all signs of nature have been obliterated and a wall has been erected to keep out plague-ridden animals, twelve-year-old Mika refuses to believe that his twin sister was killed after being abducted, and continues to search for her in spite of the dangers he faces in doing so.

And I have to say that I am enjoying the story. I’m a sci-fi fan anyway, so I’m an easy audience. I will admit that there are many elements in this story I’ve seen elsewhere previously – such as borgs (albeit used in a different way than in the Star Trek franchise). But, as they say, there’s nothing new under the sun. So the trick is to put it all together in an interesting way. In this case: so far, so good. I’m only half way through right now. Still, I think if you know someone in the recommended ages who is interested in sci-fi but isn’t completely jaded by all the video games and futuristic cartoons, this could be a good book for them.

This is Emma Clayton’s first book. Nice work, Ms. Clayton! I’m sure we’ll be seeing other works from you in the future.